Ed Rendell, mayor of New York City?

HARRISBURG — — Is it time to kiss New York City's bans on oversize sugary drinks and trans-fats goodbye?

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a politician known for his appetite, has made a fantasy shortlist of potential successors to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is expected to support City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, but behind the scenes he and his staff have joked about replacements including Rendell, who was born and raised in Manhattan; U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and even Bloomberg's fellow media billionaire Mortimer Zuckerman, The New York Times reported.

Bloomberg, who will wrap up his last term at the end of this year, could not be reached for comment.

But just two hours down Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, it didn't take long for tongues to start wagging at the idea of Rendell — who is 69 and enjoying an active retirement as a professional pundit for MSNBC, among other ventures — making the move back to the city he once called home.

Indeed, New Yorkers embraced Bloomberg, a native Bostonian, as they did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she ran for a U.S. Senate seat there.

Under New York law, the residency requirements for mayor are light. A prospective candidate must be 18 or older and a city resident on Election Day.

"With these guys, they become defined by their successors," Ceisler said. "Bloomberg views himself as a larger-than-life personality. He can't be succeeded by an ordinary pol."

Enter Rendell — surely no ordinary pol. But the former two-term mayor of Philadelphia and ex-governor says he doesn't want the job.

"People always ask me why I don't host an MSNBC show," he said during a phone interview Tuesday. "I wouldn't do that because I don't want to live in New York. The only way I'd move is to be Hillary Clinton's chief of staff if she ever became president, and even then, I'd only live in Washington four days a week."

Even though he has New York roots and still feels like a part of the city, Rendell noted that he hasn't lived in Gotham for a half-century. And in a town beset by identity politics and tribalism, that makes a difference.

"When I ran for re-election for mayor [of Philadelphia] in 1995, I'd been in the city of Philadelphia for 34 years and I'd chosen to live in Philadelphia over New York City," Rendell said. "My opponent attacked me for being a New Yorker. People are smarter than that.

"In a city of 8 million-plus people, there are people who want to run for mayor."

In addition, "Mayor Bloomberg has never talked to me about it," Rendell said. "He only talked to Mort in jest. Schumer would be a good choice. But he loves the Senate."

Pennsylvania political observers chuckled at the prospect of a return to elected politics by Rendell, whose gregarious and colorful style stands in marked contrast to the more cerebral Bloomberg.

"Ed Rendell has proven he can govern a big city," said Republican consultant Ray Zaborney of Harrisburg, who helped run failed Republican gubernatorial campaigns against Rendell in 2002 and 2006. "But the minuses are obvious: He doesn't live in New York and he doesn't know any of the [key] people there."

To overcome that, Rendell would have to successfully argue that running New York City, because of its size and stature, is also a national job and that he has the experience to do it.

In addition, New York City, unlike Pennsylvania, places limits on political fundraising. That's not a problem for the deep-pocketed Bloomberg, who funded his own campaigns. But for Rendell, who broke fundraising records in Pennsylvania, it could be an issue.

"I'm sure he's come into money now and wants to keep it," Zaborney joked. "It would be fun to watch."

Besides his role at MSNBC, Rendell does work for his old Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr and is a consultant to Greenhill Partners, an investment bank helping the Corbett administration with the proposed privatization of the Pennsylvania Lottery.

In some ways, Rendell is a logical successor to Bloomberg. While their leadership styles differ, neither man has been shy about tackling big issues. In Rendell's case, that was tangling with Philadelphia's public employees union and the Republican-controlled state Legislature over increases in education and environmental spending.

In New York, Bloomberg pursued public health and gun law reform crusades that netted him national headlines.

Rendell and Bloomberg also have a working relationship from their partnership on Building America's Future, which lobbies on behalf of infrastructure repair. They also work on the Fix the Debt Campaign, which also includes former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

"Where they're similar is they're both post-partisan and focused more on solutions than ideology," said Dan Fee, a Democratic consultant from Philadelphia who worked on Rendell's 2002 gubernatorial bid. "Both are larger-than-life personalities, but their personalities are very different."

Asked to explain the difference, Fee dryly replied, "Mayor Bloomberg would never be described as 'exuberant.' "

For Rendell, the problems with living and running in New York could be far more fundamental than mere politics.

"The problem for Ed is that it will be really hard to root for the Eagles," Ceisler said.